Reed Rally 2007:

The Second Year For An Independent Wellness Policy

Reed Intermediate School, with assistance from Chartwells School Dining Services, continues to take the lead with student wellness. On Wednesday, September 5, the school held its annual Reed Rally event.

According to Reed’s Assistant Principal Dr Anthony Salvatore, in 1991 the Newtown schools and community received a grant to develop programs that addressed the needs of children and families. One program called “Bridges The Gap” recognized and celebrated the critical role that families, teachers, administrators, and communities play in supporting children through their transition from an elementary to a secondary school.

The original grant is no longer available, yet the program continues as the Reed Rally because it is good for children and families.

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 mandated that all school districts nationwide develop and implement school wellness policies unique to each school district to improve nutrition and increase physical activity by the start of the 2006-07 school year. Newtown is entering its second year with a wellness policy in place.

In addition to being a transition program, the Reed Rally also incorporates the promotion of nutrition and fitness for families. Many studies show that students who eat nutritious foods and are physically active perform better in school, according to Jill Patterson, Chartwells’ resident dietitian.

The Reed Rally included four stations through which families rotated. At Station 1, families could eat 100 percent fruit juice frozen shape-up bars while watching a slide show of photos taken from the first day of school. 

Station 2 was led by Reed teacher Mike Altenburger who was the DJ and played music and taught common dances to families.

At Station 3, families could sample vegetables, test their nutrition knowledge with games, and watch a PowerPoint slide show on how to compose a balanced, nutritious meal in the school cafeteria. 

At Station 4, physical education teachers led fitness activities including moon ball, an activity that involves teamwork, and an activity that incorporated food models and fitness.

Ms Patterson stated that the wellness theme at the Reed Rally meets objectives of the Newtown school district’s wellness policy and also ties in with Chartwells’ philosophy of “Eat, Learn, Live.”

Eat reflects the nutrition standards, defining the quality of the food with customized meals and menus for each school district

Learn focuses on providing students the nutrition and physical activity education they need to make wise food choices now, which will establish the foundation for them to enjoy long and healthy lives.

Live means through physical activity and the promotion of a healthy school environment, programs assist teachers, parents, and students to bring the lessons to life in the classroom and at home. Live additionally completes the triangle that connects the cafeteria (Eat), the classroom (Learn), and the community (Live).

The Reed Rally activities linked up with each component. Eat: students and families could taste vegetables; Learn: students and families learned about nutrition and the health benefits of eating a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables; and Live: the Reed Rally activities promoted a healthy school environment. 

“We have an exciting school year ahead of us with school nutrition programs at Reed Intermediate School,” said Ms Patterson. “In the cafeteria, we are continuously researching ways to incorporate the Dietary Guidelines into our school lunch menus, while still serving foods that appeal to most students.”

To work on incorporating more whole grains into the diet, Chartwells will be serving whole wheat French toast sticks and chicken breast patties and chicken breast nuggets that are made with whole grain breading. To work on the dietary guideline to reduce total fat and saturated fat, they will be offering hot dogs and sausages that are made from turkey. 

Chartwells will be introducing Barilla Plus Pasta into the school lunch menus. Barilla Plus is a good source of protein, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids. Cafeteria staff also encourage students to take as many fruits and vegetables as they would like with their school lunch meal. 

“By offering samples of vegetables at the Reed Rally, we are hoping students who may not have taken vegetables in the cafeteria will try them at the Reed Rally because it is a different environment and then realize that they like certain vegetables and will choose to take more vegetables with their school lunch meal,” said Ms Patterson.